Unfortunately, a seizure aboard ship can be extraordinarily dangerous in several ways.

>> 1. A person having a seizure can bang into other passengers or crew, causing bodily injury to them. In the confined spaces of a cruise ship, there may be no escape.

>> 2. A person having seizure can bang into components of shipboard systems, inadvertently activating those systems and potentially causing a major casualty or, worse yet, rendering those systems inoperative during a casualty, thus placing the ship and all onboard in danger.

>> 3. A person having a seizure on deck or on a balcony could fall overboard as a result of the seizure.

When a passenger has a seizure aboard ship, the ship's medical officers and the master of the vessel must make a decision based on incomplete medical information because they do not have the passenger's medical history. The fact that a passenger had a seizure certainly is a clear indication that the passenger's epilepsy is not adequately controlled. As much as we all would like cruising to be accessible to those with epilepsy, I cannot fault the master of the vessel for acting on the side of caution.

That said, I do think that the ship should assist the passenger to obtain reasonable transportation home, even if this requires keeping the epileptic passenger in the ship's medical center until the ship arrives in a port of call from which flights are more readily available.